figure skating podcast

*Trigger Warning* Depression and Suicide awareness

I talk to 4-time Thai Champion Thita "Palmy" Lamsam about what it's like being a competitive international skater representing a small country. We also discuss mental health on this episode: Palmy shares her personal story of mental heath struggles with depression, anxiety, and eating disorder all while growing up in skating, going to college in the US at MSU after turning 18, and gaining help and perspective along the way. She shares her inspiration in Hannah Miller, who she looked up to at MSU, and Palmy's aspirations in Psychology moving forward.

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I talk to Michelle Hong (known as @coachmichellehong on various social media platforms) about her transition from competitive skating to retiring, collegiate skating, finding her career passion in coaching, how she used her business skills in the untapped social media market to launch her online coaching platform, her experiences with body image, and how she as a coach goes about that topic now with her students.

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I interview Aimie Epoch: Her informative instagram account is @nowbodywellness, and she’s a certified intuitive eating counselor and health & wellness coach!

We chat positive coaching environments, injury support from your team, how to help skaters with negative trains of thought, techniques to overcome fears with learning new jumps, and perfectionism.

We also talk Eating Disorders: What to look for in eating disorders, what other things impact skating, why you should listen to your hunger, amenorrhea, accepting a new body in puberty, benefits of intuitive eating + food satisfaction, eating disorders in men, what coaches/parents can do if they suspect an athlete is struggling with an eating disorder, approaching athletes on disordered eating, and self-compassion in athletes.

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I talk to International Medalist Hannah Miller about her skating experiences: An athletic and artistic skater, she was Novice Champion with a lot of promise, and decided to relocate for skating after turning 18 -- she moved to LA to train with coach Rafael Arutyunyan in the hopes of improving her technique and progressing her skating. We discuss her experience in LA regarding training, environment, social life, support system, and her eventual decision to move back home. Now obtaining her master's degree in Sports Psychology, she shares her story of struggles with body image and other mental issues stemmed from skating, dismantling that and learning to accept yourself, and advice to young skaters as well as retired ones.

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This episode I sit down with my mom and skating coach Nina Edmunds. We talk all the details on a parent-coach relationship with your own child: the most difficult parts, separating skating from home life, how we handled navigating out relationship in a positive way. We talk about her skating background coming from Russia, and the differences between coaching in the US and Russia. She also gives advice to parent coaches and skating parents.

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This episode I talk to 1988 Olympic Bronze Medalist and former Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Debi Thomas about her skating career, her mentality when she won the Bronze Medal at the ’88 Games in Calgary, obtaining a Pre-Med Engineering degree from Stanford University while at the peak of her athletic career, her experiences as a surgeon in the financially driven medical system, her professional opinions on today’s medicine and surgeries — emphasizing surgery as a final option after exhausting other methods and encouraging people to do their own research + find doctors who will prioritize health rather than expensive operations, her pivot to a more homeopathic approach with healing using quantum meta-physics, and more of her thoughts on today’s world.

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Talk to 2011 Junior Champion and International Medalist Courtney Hicks about her experiences in skating: coaching history, injuries in sport, finding herself as a skater through artistry, and what she can bring to the table now!

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I chat with US Silver Medalist Ross Miner about his 2018 Nationals performance: not being selected for the 3-person Olympic team after his amazing performances won him the silver medal. We talk about life after skating: the difficulty in transitioning into retirement and what it was like going back to school (college) after being homeschooled since 6th grade, mental training in skating and how it can be stigmatized, the importance of having a positive support system in sports, the current quad trend and direction of skating, and what he's doing now!

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I chat with 2020 Junior Champion Lindsay Thorngren about her skating career thus far: She was 2019 Intermediate Champion, skipped the novice level and won the Junior Ladies Championship the following year, and is currently ranked 6th in the US Senior Ladies field. We talk about her experience competing internationally, and her goals for the upcoming Olympic year: to make the 2022 team!

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I chat with 2015 Junior National Champion Andrew Torgashev about his skating career thus far, consistency and mental training, training in Colorado Springs and now Los Angeles, and his future plans with skating!

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I talk to my Olympic teammate Jason Brown about his skating journey: growing up competing, being at the Olympics as our first time competing internationally as Seniors, Olympic sparkle moments, the artistic side of skating, the headspace that resulted in not making the 2018 Olympic team + the dark moments that came with that, to his current skating today and strategy for the 2022 Games!

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On this episode, I talk to skating coach and yoga instructor Sarah Neal about the ways yoga can help with skating! This is more mental than physical: it can help us focus as well as deal with anxiety or stress. Also great for retiring skaters, as it can help bring clarity to your next move. All this and more, take a listen!

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I chat with 2019 Junior World Bronze Medalist Ting Cui about where she's been! Following two injuries, Ting talks about her recovery and comeback process. We talk about mental headspace during training post-injury, her coaching situation, and her plans for the future!

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I chat with 2021 US Silver medalist Amber Glenn about her skating journey, getting the triple axel and trying it in competition, how she trained mentally for the 2021 US Championships without normal competitions all season, her mindset while at Nationals, and her goals for next season!

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I chat with two-time World Bronze Medalist and Olympian Michael Weiss about his skating upbringing, landing the first quad, touring during skating's most popular time period, the current quad trend, and his thoughts on the new judging system in comparison with the 6.0 system: how it can be improved.

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Breaking down the Ladies event at Nationals this past weekend: Gracie Gold, Starr Andrews, Audrey Shin, Lindsay Thorngren, Mariah Bell, Alysa Liu, Karen Chen, Amber Glenn, & Bradie Tennell. I answer fan questions about the event, including World Team selections, Olympic contenders, and future strategies for ladies skating.

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I chat with 1988 Olympic Champion Brian Boitano about his skating story: staying with one coach his whole career (Linda Leaver), coming up with the famous Boitano arm and what he thinks about it's popularity now, his mental training for the pressure of "Battle of the Brians" at the Olympics, why he toured with Champions on Ice, his cooking passion, and his thoughts on current skating trends today.

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